COLUMBUS, OHIO --- Bill O’Brien’s offense had no shot at a comeback with less than a minute left in the third quarter, trailing 56-7, but perhaps a touchdown there would’ve been good for some of young players in the game. A little bit of a confidence boost on a night where there were few things to rally around was what Penn State’s offense was going for.

A 4th and 5 pass from Tyler Ferguson -- who entered the game for Christian Hackenberg who tried to play through a first-half injury after getting slammed to the ground and coming down on his throwing shoulder – found Allen Robinson for at least four yards. The ball was initially spotted at the Ohio State 20 yard line but Urban Meyer wasn’t so sure of it. Meyer, with a 49-point lead and one quarter to go, challenged the play which by the looks of it didn’t appear to sit too well with the Penn State sideline.

O’Brien crossed his arms and stared directly across the field for a few seconds on a couple occasions, glancing across the 20-yard line where coincidence or not, Meyer was standing. Defensive coordinator John Butler let the officials hear a few words, waved his arms during the challenge before eventually calming down a bit.

The call was reversed and Ohio State took over on downs at their own 21 yard line.

“He didn’t think that we had the first down so he called the timeout to challenge it,” O’Brien said after the game, pausing for about five seconds when asked if Meyer’s decision to challenge irked him. “I have no thoughts on it.”

Meyer did pull quarterback Braxton Miller in the third quarter, after Miller lit up the Penn State defense to the tune of 18-of-24 completions for 252 yards and three touchdowns. Miller added 11 rushes for 68 yards and two touchdowns on the ground as well.

Penn State kept going at the Buckeyes with Bill Belton in the backfield and even went with the up-tempo offense in the third quarter before Meyer went with the challenge.

Penn State linebacker Mike Hull said he wasn’t surprised Meyer challenged the play and said he didn’t have a problem the Buckeyes’ coach doing so.

“They have to do what they have to do,” Hull said. ‘They’re trying to get to a national championship and that’s sports. You have to expect that.”

O’Brien took Hull and Carson out of the game mid-way through the second half when the loss became so lopsided that the risk of injury to the two linebackers – a position group already thin and ailing to begin with—was greater than keeping them in the game. Carson was tended to by trainers in the second half for what O’Brien said was a finger injury. The healthiest linebacker of the group put his helmet back on and moved toward Butler and tapped him on the shoulder as if to let him know he was ready to return to action, only to remain on the sideline because of the situation in the game.

On offense, Robinson stayed in for the entire game and finished with 12 catches for 173 yards and a touchdown.

O’Brien said after the game that his team will have to learn from the loss and while some things they’ll need to clear from their mind, others won’t be forgotten. Whether or not Saturday night’s score, or Meyer’s desire to challenge with a victory already almost certainly in hand, are those that get filed under the unforgettable category or not remains to be seen.

“I know what type of team Ohio State is and they’re going to keep fighting to the end,” cornerback Jordan Lucas said. “That didn’t surprise me. … I knew they were going to do that. It’s football. That’s what coaches do. All credit to Ohio State.”